Wayland School Committee taps $535,769 in ARPA funds for full-day kindergarten

WAYLAND -- March 13, 2024, Wayland taps $535,769 in ARPA funds to save free full-day kindergarten for one more year. The School Committee voted 5-0 Wednesday to strip the kindergarten line from its fiscal 2025 operating budget and replace it with one-time federal pandemic money, after acting Superintendent David Fleischman disclosed that Wayland has dropped from "foundation aid" to "minimum aid" status under the state's Chapter 70 formula, wiping out the projected fiscal 2026 reimbursement the district had counted on. Fleischman blamed a state inflation factor that fell from 4.5 percent to 1.3 percent, plus rising local property values. "This is not something we choose," he said. Finance Director Brian Keveney and Town Manager Michael McCall backed the ARPA swap. The committee separately moved $150,000 in special education transportation costs into the reserve fund against a $1.1 million projected spend on a $690,000 budget, and ratified a contract with Public Employees Local 1116.